It has been a busy year for Emily Brontë’s admirers, with Deborah Lutz’s new biography This Dark Night: Emily Brontë, a Life appearing alongside a rather different sort of Brontë revival on-screen. Though Brontë has never lacked interpreters, she presents them with a special problem: there is so very little to recover of her life and so very much that has been made of what remains. Brontë began writing Wuthering Heights (1847) at 27 and died three years later, having produced no other novel. The disproportion between the brevity of her life and the scale of that great, unfathomable work has made her one of literature’s most beguiling apparitions.Emily Dickinson called Wuthering Heights “electric” and its author “gigantic,” requesting that Brontë’s 1846 poem “No Coward Soul Is Mine” be read at her funeral. Virginia Woolf, too, treated Brontë as a writer of almost supernatural force. The mystique surrounding the latter extends beyond her writing to her person, earning her the dubious honor of “patron saint of difficult women.” Lutz’s new biography attempts to bring the reality of Emily Brontë into view without quite dimming that mythical shine, a tricky needle to thread and one she executes admirably.Lutz fleshes out the author’s life through manuscripts, marginalia, drawings, and diaries, building her chapters around a chronology of Brontë family life and crowning each with an epigraph from Emily Brontë’s poems. Lutz’s is a tactile approach, in keeping with her previous work The Brontë Cabinet: Three Lives in Nine Objects (2015). She gives us Brontë in all her strangeness, appearing mostly uninterested in turning her subject into a proto-anything: “Above all,” she declares, “I treat Emily Brontë as a masterful writer […] a consummate artist who developed her genius quickly.” Lutz accepts that Brontë emerges in her pages as a “mythic figure” but hopes that readers will also glimpse her “sewing, peeling potatoes, sitting at an open window, and picking up her pencil.” [...]The biography, inevitably, is a family portrait. There is a tendency in popular accounts of Emily and Charlotte to cast the sisters as opposites: Charlotte practical and conventional, intent on taming Emily’s wild genius or otherwise standing in for the ordinary world against which she rebelled. Lutz occasionally invokes this contrast but for the most part offers a useful corrective. The Brontë children, seen from another angle, were more alike than not: they shared literary ambitions, reading habits, imaginary worlds, and an almost unimaginable work ethic. And they shared a lifelong habit of returning always to their childhood. [...]That Wuthering Heights has become synonymous with epic romance is a strange quirk of literary history. Dante Gabriel Rossetti came close to the truth when he labeled it “a fiend of a book—an incredible monster,” musing that “the action is laid in Hell—only it seems places & people have English names there.” Charlotte seemed unnerved by the novel’s raw power. She performed a canny act of PR in her preface to its later editions, seeking to account for the sheer amorality of the work: “Whether it is right or advisable to create beings like Heathcliff, I do not know: I scarcely think it is,” she concedes. “But this I know: the writer who possesses the creative gift owns something of which he is not always master—something that, at times, strangely wills and works for itself.” Charlotte goes on to mythologize her late sister, who had died of tuberculosis almost exactly a year after the book’s publication, as a kind of noble savage not entirely in control of her own artistic daemon: “Stronger than a man, simpler than a child, [Emily’s] nature stood alone.”It is easy to see why one might wish to distance oneself from the novel. Wuthering Heights is not a love story in any conventional sense. Cathy and Heathcliff are not star-crossed lovers so much as twin souls locked in spiritual warfare, seeking almost to annihilate themselves in a bid for impossible unity. (Recall Cathy’s famous line, “I am Heathcliff!”) Their passion is quasi-religious, existing outside of ordinary time and flesh, defying death; explicit sex barely features in the novel. Elizabeth Hardwick dubbed it “a virgin’s story” for its spectral and not-entirely-of-this-world quality.The novel’s baffling singularity—its frankly unchristian sensibility—left many of its early readers at a loss. The Spectator called it “coarse,” while it was deemed “too gloomy, savage, and eccentric” by other critics. “How a human being could have attempted such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters, is a mystery” pronounced Graham’s Magazine. A reviewer for Britannia, in contrast, commended the novel’s “considerable power” and “savage grandeur.” These reviews were later found in Emily’s desk, evidence that she had read them, though what she made of the judgments is another matter. [...]Biography usually promises to demystify its subjects, but Lutz shows how contexts can accumulate around a mysterious figure without quite explaining her subject away. We can learn what Emily Brontë read, where she walked, and which animals she loved; we can reconstruct with cautious confidence the world from which Wuthering Heights emerged. And yet the novel remains: no less strange for all we can know of its making, no less an “incredible monster” for all we now know of its maker. (Anna Ballan)
After that I had quite a long period of unemployment. I sat around and got impatient. Then I went back to Guildhall to be part of someone’s final‑year production. My agent wasn’t very pleased – he thought it was a bad look for a new actor to go back to university to work free of charge. I said, “Well, you’ve not got me anything. And I want to do something.” I was right because, to return the favour, the Guildhall told me about a director who was looking for people for their production of Jane Eyre. They said they’d make sure I got an audition. I got the part. That was the start of everything. (Harriet Gibsone)
Wheaton College Area Theater presentsWritten by Nick Lane, based on the novel by Charlotte BrontëThursday, November 5, 2026 - Saturday, November 14, 2026Jenks HallNick Lane’s fresh adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s classic is reimagined for ensemble storytelling. Follow Jane, an orphan who grows into a woman resolved to live by her convictions; an expansive, intimate take on faith, romance, and personal tenacity.
More pictures of the play and the rehearsals here.
Cuando Charlotte descubrió por azar los cuadernos secretos donde Emily anotaba sus poemas, la furia de esta última fue salvaje. Consideraba que sus versos pertenecían a su intimidad inviolable. Sin embargo, aquel hallazgo propició la publicación conjunta del poemario de las tres hermanas en 1846, cobijadas bajo los nombres masculinos de Currer, Ellis y Acton Bell. La poesía de Emily, atribuida entonces a Ellis, reveló de inmediato una voz de pureza cortante, despojada de adornos retóricos, donde Dios, la naturaleza y la muerte se miraban sin intermediarios, con una hondura metafísica que superaba cualquier lirismo convencional de su tiempo.Al año siguiente vio la luz su única novela, Cumbres Borrascosas, concebida con esa misma madera seca y resistente. Mientras sus contemporáneos escribían relatos de costumbres y lecciones morales bienhechoras, Emily entregó en las páginas de Cumbres Borrascosas una obra que parecía esculpida por el viento del invierno. No hubo en sus letras afán de halagar el gusto del público ni temor a escandalizar la mojigatería victoriana. En su escritura no hay espacio para la queja blanda ni para la compasión postiza. Todo en ella es concisión, filo de navaja y un temblor antiguo que nombra la tierra herida con la exactitud de quien conoce el peso exacto de cada silencio. (Translation)
Of all the instances of young prodigies penning music far beyond their years, there may be none more mind-boggling than Kate Bush writing "Wuthering Heights" at 18 years old. What's even more impressive, though, is that "Wuthering Heights" is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the raucous, irrepressible brilliance on display across "The Kick Inside," Bush's multifaceted 1978 breakout. (...)And, because Bush was a genius, her claim to freedom argued for itself; there was no listening to "Oh To Be in Love" or "Them Heavy People" or "James and the Cold Gun" — or, indeed, to the enrapturing perfection of "Wuthering Heights"— without inferring that this is what modern auteur-driven songcraft could and should be. (Leo Noburu Lima)
While it is Bush’s immense, witchy vocals that first entrap any listener of the towering 1978 ballad, the soaring, emotional electric guitar solo was the genius of Pilot guitarist Ian Bairnson and his cherry sunburst 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom.An avid trail-bike racer away from the studio, Bairnson took to Edinburgh’s rolling hills to perform some tricks with his Pilot bandmate and biker, David Paton. It was here that the guitarist flew off the bike and broke his wrist. That’s a pretty catastrophic injury for a guitarist… on paper. In this case, it might be the secret ingredient to a song that has now been streamed well over 300,000,000 times.“When we got back to the house, I said, ‘Tomorrow, you’ll be fine. You’ve just sprained it,’ without realising that he’d actually broken it. It began to swell up quite a bit, so we took him to the hospital and he got a cast put on. And we knew that the session was coming up…” Paton recalled.Bairnson turned up at the studio shortly thereafter to record ‘Wuthering Heights’ with his arm encased in plaster; you’d be forgiven for thinking the session would be postponed, and assuming time stood still until all parties were fit and able to play their part uninjured. But the breakneck pace woven into the song’s very fabric, written in one evening and recorded in one sweeping take, simply meant that the show must go on. (rubybrown)
Chi cerca nei versi di Emily un diario sentimentale o qualche indizio sulle sue passioni segrete rischia di rimanere deluso: la sua poesia appartiene a un altrove fantastico, abitato da presenze che parlano di prigionia, desiderio, perdita e libertà.E quando sconfina da quell'universo, sembra inseguire qualcosa che oltrepassi i confini dell'esistenza concreta, un'estasi trascendentale degna di una mistica. La natura diventa una presenza immensa, talvolta minacciosa; l'anima aspira a un'indipendenza che il corpo non può concederle.Emily aveva conosciuto, e mal sopportato, il mondo esterno: studiò, viaggiò e lavorò per brevi periodi lontano da Haworth. Ma la sua vera patria, forse, era quella che aveva nutrito nella propria mente. Una donna che sembra essersi sentita per tutta la vita qualcosa di diverso, più spirito che essere umano, e che attraverso la scrittura poteva finalmente abitare una realtà abbastanza grande da contenerla. (Maya Artusi Moro) (Translation)
Pour son quatrième roman, Lilia Hassaine plonge dans l’œuvre culte de Charlotte Brontë et imagine la vie de Bertha Mason, que l’on croise dans les pages de « Jane Eyre ». Durant les 256 pages de « Je », l’autrice et journaliste écrit depuis le point de vue de celle à qui elle redonne le prénom d’Antoinette et retrace sa funeste relation avec Edward Rochester, de la Jamaïque jusqu’à la campagne anglaise. Dans le roman de Charlotte Brontë publié en 1847, Bertha est démente. Son mariage avec Edward Rochester est basé sur un mensonge de son père, qui a tu les antécédents familiaux. Lilia Hassaine inverse les rôles et écrit une autre histoire, dans la veine du travail de Jean Rhys, qui avait consacré un préquel au personnage. Dans « Je », Antoinette est une femme saine d’esprit, aimante, entraînée dans une vertigineuse descente aux enfers orchestrée par son époux. Glaçant et moderne. (Florence Pitard) (Translation)
En los primeros momentos del duelo, no deseamos escapar de la memoria, no queremos volver a la vida normal. La idea misma del consuelo suena a deserción, a falsedad, a despropósito. Durante las horas vacías, invitamos al espectro, le rogamos que nos obsesione y embruje nuestra casa. Así lo cuenta Emily Brontë, con torrencial romanticismo, en Cumbres borrascosas. Los protagonistas se enamoran, se traicionan y se aniquilan el uno al otro con desamparada crueldad. Parecen empeñados en destruir toda posibilidad de final feliz, pero cada vez se necesitan más. Cuando Catherine está a punto de morir, Heathcliff le suplica que lo persiga: “Hay espíritus que andan errantes por el mundo. Quédate siempre conmigo, toma cualquier forma, vuélveme loco. Pero no me dejes solo”. Emily escribió la novela mientras cuidaba a su hermano, enfermo de tuberculosis, durante largas vigilias agónicas. En su libro, las apariciones expresan un deseo que reconocemos bien: la permanencia del ser amado. Ella, la recluida hija de un pastor anglicano, pensaba que la fantasía es un distrito de lo cotidiano. Los fantasmas existen –aunque no sean reales– porque los necesitamos. No sabemos vivir sin los muertos. (Translation)
L’Angleterre l’a aussi marquée sur le plan littéraire. La personnalité d’Emily Brontë a compté pour elle, et plus tard l’œuvre de Virginia Woolf, découverte dans les années 1920 en même temps que celle de James Joyce, cet autre grand représentant de la modernité littéraire. (Translation)
Sounds of SilenceWords and Music (November 8, 19:45)To mark Armistice Day, Words & Music takes up the theme of silence.From the devotional searching of Bach’s Actus tragicus, via Haydn’s String Quartet called The Joke, which ends with deliberate pauses from the players, to the experimental explorations of modernists like György Ligeti, silence has meant different things to different composers. Before and after live performances, conductors try to hold a silence in the concert hall, and in recordings of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler left long gaps between the famous opening notes.In literature too, the meanings of silence range from the awkward in Jane Austen to the stultifying in Charlotte Brontë [fragments of Jane Eyre and the poem Evening Solace]. via peacefulness in Wordsworth to the meditative in mystic writings of the Sufi poet Rumi.And the meanings of silence in wartime are explored by the poet Ivor Gurney and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.The readers are Sian Clifford, seen on TV this summer in the latest series of Ludwig, and Ray Fearon, who has just finished appearing on stage in Headlong's production of Fences.
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6 November – 18 December 2026Exhibition in the Posh Parlour, Brontë BirthplaceWe are delighted to welcome Matt Gibbons as the newest Artist in Residence at the Brontë Birthplace. Matt has worked closely with the house for many years, documenting every stage of our journey—from the renovation process and our opening months to our grand Royal opening. His dedication, care, and eye for detail have shaped our of our story.Based in Thornton, Matt Gibbons a photographer, draws his inspiration from the landscapes and wildlife of Yorkshire and further afield. Matt captures a wide variety of landscapes throughout the seasons, focusing on particular how different light impacts on the natural beauty of the landscape. Matt is often found taking long hikes on the moors and dales with his spaniel, Dexter!One of Matt’s proudest achievements as a photographer was photographing the restoration of the Bronte Birthplace between 2024 and 2025 which then culminated in being invited to be the official photographer for the Birthplace for the official opening of the house by HM Queen Camilia in May 2025.For this new exhibition, Matt turns his lens toward Thornton, Brontë Country, and the striking natural landscapes and wildlife of Yorkshire. His work captures the quiet beauty, character, and atmosphere of “God’s Own Country,” offering visitors a thoughtful visual journey through the places that shaped the Brontë family.Matt’s exhibition will be displayed in the Posh Parlour, a fitting setting for work that has been so integral to the life of the house. We are honoured to celebrate his artistry in a room that has witnessed so much of our history.
The production is set to open at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford on 9th September 2027 before embarking on a UK tour.The Yvonne Arnauld Theatre and Shared Experience their co-production of a new stage adaptation of Anne Brontë’s pioneering novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which has been adapted for the stage by Katherine Moar and directed by Joanna Read.Following its run at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, the production will then head to Oxford, Bath, Blackpool, Eastbourne and Malvern with other venues to be confirmed.With tickets set to go on sale on the 6th November, casting and creative team has yet to be announced.Commenting on the announcement, Joanna Read says: “It is with great pleasure that we can announce this new production in partnership with our co-producers, Shared Experience. Katherine is a dazzling writing talent, and we were thrilled to commission her to adapt Anne Brontë’s trailblazing novel about a woman’s fight for domestic independence and creative freedom. We look forward to bringing this emotional, gripping and shockingly relevant story to life on stage, both here at the Yvonne Arnaud and in theatres up and down the country.”Who is the mysterious tenant of Wildfell Hall? High on the Yorkshire fells, isolated from society, Helen lives with her son in the ruined and desolate Wildfell Hall. Content until the intrusions of her gossiping neighbours and the affections of local farmer Gilbert force her to reveal her devastating story.The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the compelling story of a woman fleeing a perilous marriage to find safety for her child and her pursuit of a self-sufficient life, eventually finding love on her own terms. Written in the mid-19th century, Anne Brontë’s radical and redemptive novel challenged contemporary notions of a woman’s place in society and is now considered to be one of the first feminist novels.
A fresh stage adaptation is bringing new energy to a literary classic.Jane Eyre will open at Storyhouse in Chester on November 10, 2026 and run until November 21, 2026, offering audiences a bold retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s iconic novel.The production is a co-production between Storyhouse, Mercury Theatre Colchester, and Rose Theatre, in association with Northern Stage, supported by a grant from the Royal Theatrical Support Trust (RTST).Suzie Henderson, creative director at Storyhouse, said: "Excitement is building with just two weeks to go until this thrilling new adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s much-loved masterpiece opens on the Storyhouse stage as one of the undoubted highlights of our autumn season."Jane Eyre is a Storyhouse Originals production in partnership with the Mercury Theatre at Colchester and Rose Theatre at Kingston, and it’s been an exhilarating collaboration, creating a very special piece of live theatre which under Lily Dible’s exciting direction is both powerful and utterly compelling."Directed by Lily Dyble, winner of the 2025 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award, the production is based on the acclaimed adaptation by Sally Cookson, Mike Akers, and the original company. (Matthew Dougherty)
The series runs throughout the winter and into the spring, exploring Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White on November 14, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla on February 6, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea on March 13, and Mary Shelley’s The Last Man on April 24. With just 12 places per session, tickets cost £7 per person.
Le sorelle Brontë hanno scritto romanzi immortali, capolavori della narrativa ottocentesca pieni di pathos ed emozione. Ai romanzi si aggiungono i versi, nei quali emerge il fascino della natura selvaggia delle brughiere dello Yorkshire, tra distese d’erica, roccia e foschia. Un pomeriggio per riscoprire le loro voci, tra incanto, disperazione e il desiderio insopprimibile di affermare la propria identità.>> h 15.3oCatherine e Heathcliff. Il cuore selvaggio dell’amorecon Liliana RampelloDue protagonisti indimenticabili e un amore travolgente: in Cime tempestose Emily Brontë racconta il fantasma dell’eros e dell’eccesso, e un desiderio indicibile che la società vittoriana perbene tiene sepolto nelle sue viscere. È un’attrazione irresistibile, suggellata nell’infanzia, che diventa il destino di due famiglie per tre generazioni.>> h 16.30Jane Eyre. Amare senza perdersicon Carolina Capria«L’ho sposato, lettore»: con queste parole – una delle citazioni più celebri della letteratura inglese – Charlotte Brontë compie una rivoluzione. Attraverso Jane Eyre e Mr Rochester esploriamo una relazione che sfida le gerarchie del suo tempo e immagina un amore fondato sulla parità, la libertà e il riconoscimento reciproco.>> h 17.30Il giardino e la brughieracon Susanna BassoDopo aver lavorato alle edizioni italiane di Jane Austen, la traduttrice si è incamminata nella brughiera in compagnia di Jane Eyre, affrontando il capolavoro di Charlotte Brontë. Il lavoro non è stato semplice e lo racconta in questo incontro condividendo pensieri e sensazioni che l’hanno accompagnata nel corso di questo lungo viaggio.
Further information in La Repubblica.
The Poetry of Emily Brontëby Dr. Greta ColombaniNovember 7, 18:00 GMTZoomGreta Colombani on the strange and powerful poetry of Emily Brontë.During her short, private life, Emily Brontë agreed to share with readers outside her family only twenty-one of her poems, which appeared in the first book published by the Brontë sisters under pseudonyms and at their own expense: Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846). Far from spontaneous, this act of sharing was prompted by a violation that had at first infuriated her. Charlotte had come up with the idea for the collection after discovering the notebooks where Emily had been secretly transcribing the poems she had been writing since her teenage years.While the book ended up only selling two copies one year after publication, Emily’s poetry continues to attract and captivate readers today as a possible window into the soul of one of the most elusive and mysterious figures in English literature. This lecture will offer a journey through the lyrical depth, visionary intensity, and rich variety of Emily’s published and unpublished poems, from her fierce confrontations with loss, confinement, and her own mortality, to her evocations of the sublime, solitary wildness of the moors, to the several tales of violence, passion, and betrayal set in Gondal, the mythic country that she had invented with Anne as young adolescents and that never ceased to haunt her imagination.Set text: Emily Brontë, Complete Poems, ed. Janet Gezari (Penguin, 1992). Greta will focus on particular poems from this volume; details will be sent to everyone who books.
“We are talking about the Victorian period, after all,” says Sue Newby, learning officer at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, England. But even still, these critics were the minority. The book was an immediate bestseller, and has only grown more popular in the nearly 180 years since.That’s why Ms. Newby – and many parents – are so stumped by the novel’s recent debut on PEN America’s banned books list. This year, at least three Texas school districts restricted access to the novel as state lawmakers try to rid public school libraries of what they consider explicit content.Even more perplexing is where the book is being celebrated: China. The country known for its strict internet and literary censorship just made “Jane Eyre” required reading for ninth graders from Beijing to Chengdu. The mixed reception hints at authorities’ shifting priorities in both countries.“Maybe this isn’t the truth anymore, but we still think of America as being this kind of bastion of liberal values, and we think of China as being the opposite,” Ms. Newby says. “It’s very ironic.”Reader, nobody knows.Two Texas school districts – McAllen and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City – have announced plans to move “Jane Eyre” out of middle school libraries, citing compliance with Senate Bill 13. That’s a law passed last year that redefines what qualifies as harmful, indecent, or profane content in library books. New Braunfels’ school district went a step further, restricting the title to advanced literature students only.Yet supporters of the bill, which also gives parents and school districts greater oversight of school library catalogs, say that books like “Jane Eyre” were never the intended targets.“‘Jane Eyre’ is not profane, it is not indecent,” says Bonnie Wallace, a grassroots activist who helped lead the campaign to scrutinize the content of public school libraries. She suspects that some school districts “are going well beyond the intention of SB13 and trying to make it seem like [the law] is overreaching or exclusionary or reactionary.”Another theory: These districts have all used AI “pretty extensively,” says Anne Russey, co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project, which might have erroneously flagged “Jane Eyre” as problematic.To be sure, the novel tackles some heavy themes, including mental illness. But Abigail Gordy, a mother who recently moved with her family from Schertz, Texas, to San Antonio because of the book bans, says these things are part of life.“There’s nothing in there that’s too dark for an intermediate child to read. They see way worse online,” she says, adding that restricting children’s access to books “makes us closed-minded.”Ms. Newby calls it a “perfect transition novel,” teaching teens resilience, compassion, and the importance of speaking truth to power as they start to confront the adult world for the first time. [...]Her story has taught generations of young readers “to love ourselves and other people around us,” says Zhao Dongqing, a mother and physician in Beijing. “It’s very good for teenagers to read – as well as for adults.”For Ethan Huang, a ninth-grade student who recently finished reading “Jane Eyre,” it was the childhood scenes that resonated the most – particularly when a young Jane stood up to her principal. “This made me think,” he says, standing outside a large bookstore in the Xidan neighborhood of Beijing. “I can take the initiative. When the teacher says something wrong, I will point [it] out.”“How students respond to Rochester has changed quite a lot,” says Ms. Newby. “Young girls are much less romantic about him than I used to be.”Instead, they’re more likely to see Jane’s marriage as “a cop out,” and say she “should have blazed her own trail and gone off traveling” at the end. (Lindsey McGinnis)
Wuthering Heights (Northern Ballet, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, 4 to 8 May): David Nixon’s gothic classic returns 25 years after its Bradford premiere, with a score by Claude-Michel Schönberg. (Julianna Barnaby)
The public's ‘One and Only’ novel has been revealed by Stratford Literary Festival after its most successful festival yet.Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is the novel most people would keep if they were only allowed one book on their shelf, with Warwickshire native George Eliot’s Middlemarch taking second place.The results of the nation’s One and Only novel were revealed at the end of a packed Autumn event, with bestselling novelist John Boyne and Shakespeare scholar Professor Emma Smith discussing the top five most chosen novels.The other three were Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. (Philippa Mingins)
Las hermanas del viento es una obra que emociona. La actuación de las tres actrices resulta armónica, afiatada, contenida; y por eso mismo, hermosa. Sus voces manejan perfectamente el tono íntimo, porque pareciera que los espectadores tenemos el privilegio de entrar en la casa parroquial de Haworth para ser testigos de sus rutinas de lectura y escritura, de sus pausas para tomar té, de sus dudas.En total consonancia con el mundo emocional de las tres escritoras, el vestuario que evoca la época: negro, sobrio pero sutil gracias a las adecuadas transparencias; los detalles de la escenografía minimalista, como los taburetes que sirven de escritorios; la luz que conversa con cierta dimensión fantasmática de la puesta en escena; todo el lenguaje parateatral brinda una experiencia estética que merece ser vista, que se queda con el espectador cuando las luces se encienden regalándole una reflexión de alto vuelo lírico sobre cómo la escritura tiende un puente entre las almas y brinda un camino hacia la libertad. (Ana Catalina Castillo I.) (Translation)
by Sarah GordonDirected by Wynne Chan. With Raven Douglas, Aleisha Lew, and Naomi MurrayNovember 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22 at 8:00pmNovember 8, 15, 21 at 2:00pmNovember 12 at 7:30pmThe Pear, 1110 La Avenida, Suite A, Mountain View, CA 94043Anne Brontë steps out from the long shadow of her famous sisters in this inventive and fiercely intelligent play. As she confronts the literary machinery that elevates some voices while silencing others, Anne wrestles with ambition, legacy, and the cost of being overlooked. Blending humor with pointed insight, this work reclaims a narrative often left untold, inviting us to reconsider who gets remembered—and why.
Further information on Metro Silicon Valley.
The Brontë Society, the charity that has protected and preserved the legacy of the Brontë family for over 130 years, has been awarded a grant of £232,058 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. As the Brontë Parsonage Museum looks towards its centenary in 2028, this funding will safeguard the Brontës’ internationally significant heritage for generations to come.As the Brontë Society’s collection has outgrown its current storage capacity, more comprehensive, secure and maintained storage is needed. Plans for the necessary creation of a new, purpose built, environmentally controlled space will now be progressed with the support of this funding, alongside the development of a site-wide masterplan that will include the Museum and a trio of buildings on West Lane, Haworth.The funding project, entitled ‘The Road to Resilience’, will support several key elements for the Society and Brontë Parsonage Museum, through:
- The creation of new, bespoke storage and the relocation of what is an Arts Council England ‘Designated’ collection of over 8,000 objects - and the world’s largest collection of Brontë-related material
- Exploring the viability of conserving and re-using spaces in the recently acquired nearby historic buildings on West Lane.
- Documenting specialist curatorial expertise for the long-term benefit of staff, volunteers, researchers and visitors.
Rebecca Yorke, Director of the Brontë Society and Brontë Parsonage Museum, said: “As we approach the Brontë Parsonage Museum's centenary in 2028, we have a responsibility not only to celebrate everything that has been achieved over the past one hundred years, but also to ensure this remarkable collection is protected for the next century and beyond.“’The Road to Resilience’ is about laying those foundations. Through developing plans for improved, bespoke storage and preserving the specialist knowledge of our team through dedicated time spent capturing decades of expertise from the curatorial team, we can ensure the Brontës' extraordinary legacy continues to inspire staff, researchers, visitors and future generations.”A part-time Project Curator has been recruited to oversee the sensitive relocation of the collections, coordinate updates to curatorial records and lead the capture of institutional knowledge as part of ‘The Road to Resilience’. During the process of transferring, logging and digitising the extensive collection, which features items used during the lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne including early writings and drawings; poetry manuscripts and diary papers; correspondence; clothing; jewellery; locks of hair and household possessions; there will be opportunities for volunteers to engage with the collection.Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “The Brontës hold a special place in the literary heritage of England, so we are delighted to support the Brontë Society with a grant to work towards a strong and resilient future for the organisation and the Brontë Parsonage Museum. It is fantastic news that thanks to National Lottery players, the Society can now develop plans to shape its future and continue to inspire the next generation as it approaches its centenary.”‘The Road to Resilience’ project is due to be delivered between autumn 2026-2027, ahead of the centenary year celebrations for the Museum.
Olivia Marcus as Jane Eyre was astounding. Her mannerisms perfectly portrayed an honest, “poor, obscure, plain, little Jane”. Her depiction of this wonderfully peculiar and lonely character had all the confusion and frustration of someone trapped in the wrong circumstances and time. Her Mr Rochester (Gabriel Akuwudike) was wickedly manipulative with a marked dark streak, although Akuwudike managed to add complexity in the way he depicted Mr Rochester’s underlying affection and vulnerability. Special mention must go to Andrea Gatchalian, who absolutely dazzled the audience with her multiple roles as Helen and Adele. Adorable Adele (Gatchalian) brought some much-needed opportunities for lightness and laughter, and her bouncy childish joy and silliness gave the performance a balance. Leo Wan as Brocklehurst was as sinister as can be and had me quaking in my boots. Overall, the cast were incredible and made the production seamless and captivating.The staging was sparse, featuring almost all the action on huge steps. This allowed, and indeed needed, a well thought-out and clever use of the space. The steps allowed hierarchies to be immediately clear, as well as allowing the small cast of eight to hustle and bustle around, using vertical space to make the supporting cast seem more numerous. The choreography (Natasha Harrison) was stylised and worked really well to add a dreamlike quality to the production. Movement and repetition were also used very cleverly to mark the passing of time and depict the gruelling and thankless routines that built the early part of Jane’s life.It’s so tricky to translate a novel to a stage, especially one that’s so heavy with inner monologue and a central, isolated character. However, the genius way that this production tackled that not only successfully achieved this goal, but it demonstrated a new depth to Jane Eyre’s character. Even with a relatively small cast, it often felt like there was a larger chorus due to the ever-changing costumes, characters and frequent stylised movement. Shadows and clever lighting (Sánchez Roldán) often enhanced the feeling that the cast were more numerous. Cast members also frequently stood at the sides, observing the action, giving the whole performance an eerie feel of some unknown spectator.I will not give out any spoilers, but the climax of the performance was heart-stopping – even if you’re a Jane Eyre nerd like me and already know the ending! This show was all-out genius; from the direction to the adaptation, and from the lighting to every single member of the cast. A true-to-text production, with ongoing and occasionally explosive airs of madness, loneliness, self-doubt and secrets. This was truly a triumph! (Melina Turner-Deeks)
It was during Jane’s wedding and Bertha's revenge that the set finally had its moment. Jane, wearing a long trailing veil, seamlessly gliding up to the top of the stairs, cut a striking image. Additionally, during Bertha’s last hurrah, the black staircase lit up as she stood basking in the flames, accompanied by a monologue from RAYE's Click Clack Symphony. Not only did this moment give Bertha’s character more depth and integrity, but it was also one of the most beautiful and memorable stage visuals I’ve witnessed.Ultimately, the production's intimate performances captured the tension and tenderness of Jane and Rochester's relationship and delivered some theatrical spectacles. I only wish that, for a story so rich in atmosphere, landscape and emotional depth, it had shown the same imagination and ambition in realising the world around Jane. (Ella Massey)
And suddenly, appearing as a light in the darkness, there’s a small figure in white ascending the staircase: Jane Eyre, about to relate her tale, or a shorter, impressionistic, techno-enhanced version of it.Dear, indomitable Jane, dealt a poor hand in life but so sensible and likeable. Possibly my favourite literary heroine and possibly Charlotte Brontë’s thinly disguised self, since her novel was originally subtitled An Autobiography… and under the name Currer Bell, this being an age when female writers seeking publication had to bow to the patriarchy.There is, you’ll be relieved to hear, acting as well.I did, I confess, miss a few utterances amid the audio-storm, but Olivia Marcus quickly won me over, conveying Jane’s plucky forthrightness to the back of the auditorium. (David Whetstone)
Jean Rhys avait déjà entrepris, dans La Prisonnière des Sargasses, de donner âme et voix à Antoinette Cosway. Quelques décennies plus tard, Lilia Hassaine tente, à son tour, de réhabiliter cette figure longtemps reléguée dans l’ombre. Revisiter un classique aussi emblématique que Jane Eyre est un défi considérable. Hassaine en restitue l’atmosphère gothique, mais son style peine parfois à traduire toute l’intensité du tumulte intérieur d’Antoinette, frôlant par moments le surplus d’informations au détriment d’un potentiel effet saisissant. (Roudy Darwich) (Translation)
Alors que la tendance est au thriller psychologique, l’autrice française Lilia Hassaine a frappé fort. Après son roman Panorama, elle vient de sortir son nouvel ouvrage aux éditions Gallimard, Je. Dans ce livre, elle aborde des sujets forts comme la manipulation mentale, le fameux gaslighting et les comportements pervers narcissiques, notamment dans la relation de couple. Une œuvre qui se situe à mi-chemin entre roman victorien et thriller intimiste contemporain. Pour cet ouvrage, elle s’est inspirée du personnage de la première femme de Rochester dans Jane Eyre, le roman culte de Charlotte Brontë. Elle lui donne ainsi une voix, un corps, une destinée. (Ava Skoupsky) (Translation)
Director: Yi TianfuWith: Wang Bin and Zhu ZhenHongqiao Art Center, No. 888 Tianshan Road, Changning District, ShanghaiNovember 3-4, 2026The polished revised edition of Huju opera Moonlight Shadow, produced by the Shanghai Changning District Huju Opera Heritage Preservation Center, premiered on Tuesday night at the Hongqiao Art Center.It adapts Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre into a Shanghai folk-opera performed in Shanghainese, the intangible cultural heritage that bears distinctive Haipai cultural genes.Belonging to Huju's iconic "suit-and-cheongsam" drama genre, the story is reset in early‑20th‑century Shanghai, a city deeply embedded in the Jiangnan cultural sphere. It traces orphan governess Feng Mingyue and Lu Peiyan, master of Linhu Manor. The pair goes through conflicts and misunderstandings before developing a sincere love built on mutual dignity and equality. The adaptation preserves the spiritual core of the original novel while infusing strong regional Shanghai and Jiangnan artistic charm. (Zheng Yiran in China Daily)
Shin Choon-soo, chief executive and producer of OD Company who has been active on Broadway, will unveil "Wuthering Heights," a new musical aimed at the global market, in January. It is his first global project in three years, following "The Great Gatsby," which opened on Broadway in 2024.OD Company said at a news conference at SKY31 in Lotte World Tower on the 3rd that the original musical "Wuthering Heights" will have its world premiere at the CJ Towol Theater of the Seoul Arts Center from Jan. 26 to Feb. 28 next year. The production is a new adaptation by a Korean creative team of the novel by British author Emily Brontë."I remember staying up all night, overwhelmed with emotion, after reading the work as a middle school student," Shin said. "Turning such a well-known classic into a musical does carry some pressure, but I chose it because the source material is so compelling — it is hard to find a story this absorbing, with such deep interior lives and narrative power."The production goes beyond the love and revenge between Heathcliff and Catherine that form the core of the novel, extending into the tragedy and passion carried on by the next generation. Where previous films and stage works focused mainly on the love, conflict and revenge surrounding Heathcliff, Catherine and Catherine's brother, this production widens the story to ask how the wounds of the parents' generation affect the one that follows.Notably, one actor plays both Catherine and her daughter, portraying a figure who witnesses and consoles Heathcliff's loneliness and madness. "It poses a fundamental question about whether the wounds left by the parents' generation and the cycle of destructive revenge carry on into the next," Shin said.Another distinguishing feature is that Korean creators led the development of the work. "I believed that the delicate emotional shading characteristic of Korean creative teams, and a musical language that maximizes narrative, could bring out the explosive energy of the original," Shin said. The book and lyrics are by Han Jae-eun, known for the musicals "Fan Letter" and "Time of Dogs and Cats," with music by Jo Woo-in, who composed the scores for "Nambeol" and "SPECIAL S."Joining them are Michael Fentiman, a director who has worked in London's West End, and Jason Howland, an arranger active on Broadway. Howland is also known as the composer of the Korean original musical "Swing Days: Codename A." OD Company plans to present the work to Korean audiences first before taking it overseas. Specific overseas performance schedules and destinations have not yet been confirmed.Shin has expanded his presence in the global musical market since bringing "The Great Gatsby" to Broadway in 2024. "The Great Gatsby" is still running on Broadway in an open-ended engagement, and has drawn about 1 million theatergoers and recorded about 200 billion won ($136 million) in revenue through its Broadway run and North American tour.High production and operating costs mean the show has yet to break even. "Musicals are a genre where you can only turn a profit by sustaining performances over the long term through open-ended runs and tours," Shin said, stressing that productions must be developed and managed with a long-term view. The plan for "Wuthering Heights" is likewise to build competitiveness in the global market through continued performances rather than short-term box-office success. (Lee Hye-jin)
Producer Shin Chun-soo took “The Great Gatsby” from its 2024 Broadway premiere to London and Seoul. His next musical, another classic novel adaptation developed alongside “Gatsby,” carries the same global ambition but reverses the route.“Wuthering Heights,” based on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, will have its world premiere in Seoul in January, rather than in London, as Shin had once considered.The 58-year-old veteran producer told reporters Tuesday that he decided to bet on a Korean writer and composer — and on Korean audiences, whom he described as deeply engaged and discerning.“I really wanted this one to have its world premiere in Seoul,” he said. “I hoped to show it to these audiences first, then take it out to the world.”The decision comes as “Gatsby” gives Shin a footing few Korean producers have had on Broadway. [...]With “Wuthering Heights,” he has put a Korean writer and composer at the center, joined by Korean designers and an international team that is largely British.“With ‘Gatsby,’ I read the English script and the translated script over and over, and fighting over every single line was really hard,” Shin said. “Working with Korean writers, the density of the story and the detail of the emotions really pile up. That is the solid core of this piece.”The book and lyrics are by Han Jae-eun, known for intimate musicals “Fan Letter” and “It Rains Cats and Dogs.” The score is by Cho Woo-in, a classically trained composer who studied at Hanyang University and in US. Cho is not yet a mainstream name, but Shin said he recognized the Korean composer’s musicality long ago, and the two writers have been developing the show together since 2020.Costume designer Kim Hwan, who works in Germany, and makeup designer Kim Nam-sun round out the Korean side. They are joined by British director Michael Fentiman, choreographer Alexzandra Sarmiento, set designer Max Jones and lighting designer Tim Lutkin, who designed “Life of Pi.” Jason Howland, who composed “Gatsby,” is the music supervisor and orchestrator.Shin is also bringing a Broadway-style development process to a Korean stage. Most productions, he said, move quickly from setup to previews to opening night, leaving little time to fix what does not work.For “Wuthering Heights,” OD Company has rented the 1,004-seat CJ Towol Theater for three months, though the show will run for only five weeks. The rest of the time goes to setup, technical and dress rehearsals and closed previews. (Park Ga-young)
The polished revised edition of Huju opera Moonlight Shadow, produced by the Shanghai Changning District Huju Opera Heritage Preservation Center, premiered on Tuesday night at the Hongqiao Art Center.It adapts Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre into a Shanghai folk-opera performed in Shanghainese, the intangible cultural heritage that bears distinctive Haipai cultural genes.Belonging to Huju's iconic "suit-and-cheongsam" drama genre, the story is reset in early‑20th‑century Shanghai, a city deeply embedded in the Jiangnan cultural sphere. It traces orphan governess Feng Mingyue and Lu Peiyan, master of Linhu Manor. The pair goes through conflicts and misunderstandings before developing a sincere love built on mutual dignity and equality. The adaptation preserves the spiritual core of the original novel while infusing strong regional Shanghai and Jiangnan artistic charm.Helmed by Yi Tianfu, professor at Shanghai Theatre Academy, this upgraded version comes four years after its 2022 debut. National first-class actor Wang Bin takes on the role of Lu, while Zhu Zhen — the city's young Huju-opera intangible-cultural-heritage inheritor — plays heroine. The cast has refined vocal tunes, stage visuals, and character interactions to achieve more nuanced psychological expression."Onstage, every gesture, glance, and pause must convey unspoken inner thoughts, rather than merely reciting lines," Wang said. "For this revival, we have dug far deeper into subtle, progressive emotional shifts between our two characters to avoid flat performances."Zhu pointed out the real-world dilemma facing Shanghainese inheritance. "Many young Shanghai residents can understand the dialect, yet feel too shy to speak it," she said. "Live theater gives us a vivid, public channel to hand down this precious linguistic heritage to younger generations." (Zheng Yiran)
It’s hard to understate the importance of the classical tradition to postcolonial literature. The Puerto Rican playwright Luis Rafael Sánchez recast Sophocles’ Antigone in La pasión según Antígona Pérez, set in the fictional Caribbean republic of Molina, to portray the United States’s extreme economic and political suppression of 1960s Puerto Rican nationalist movements.In Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys’s response to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the Dominican-British novelist fabulated a Creolized backstory for the “mad wife” Rochester abuses and keeps stashed away in his attic, painting a picture of colonial detest and neglect. The Martinican poet/playwright Aimé Césaire brilliantly adapted and enriched Shakespeare’s The Tempest into Caliban’s existential drama after having his name, language and identity stolen from him upon Prospero’s arrival in Une Tempête, dramatizing the colonial dilemma of all Caribbean island nations. More contemporaneously, Jamaican poet and memoirist Safiya Sinclair viscerally wrote to and through Césaire’s own seminal rewrite in her guttural poetry collection Cannibal to reframe the issue of postcolonial identity for one who has immigrated to the metropole of the imperial power, in this case the United States. This Caribbean tradition of literary hybridity, intertextuality, and relation is long.In college, I didn’t know or care about any of that.
by Eva FigesIntroduction by Susan FaludiDalkey Archive PressPaperpack: 9781628976618eBook: 9781628976625Publication Date: August 16th, 2026Eva Figes' inventive reshaping of the psychological thriller, Nelly's Version—part dark comedy, part mystery novel—offers an unsettling journey into the mind of a witty woman stuck in a pastless present.A middle-aged woman suffering from amnesia checks into a small-town hotel under the pseudonym Nelly Dean with a suitcase full of cash and no idea where it, or she, came from. Distrustful of everyone from the waiter who serves her lunch to the store clerk who claims to know her from grade school, Nelly fears she is part of a conspiracy. At the same time, however, she remains strangely indifferent to the clues that might explain her puzzling circumstances and is unaffected by the many assaults, robberies, arsons, and other crimes occurring around her.Named after the housekeeper in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Nelly Dean is an endearingly unhinged character who will fascinate and excite readers in this deranged literary thriller, featuring an introduction by Susan Faludi.
St John the Baptist Church in Tunstall, located in North Lancashire and famed for its links to the Brontë sisters, hopes to raise the funds for specialist conservation of its windows, stonework and parapets.A recent survey found that several stained glass windows are in urgent need of repair, including those depicting Joan of Arc, St George, and St Michael. [...]The Grade I listed church was attended by the Brontë sisters during their time at school in nearby Cowan Bridge and later appeared as Brocklebridge Church in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. (Sonia Veneziani-Rocha)
The undeniable success of Wicker in 4DX (if many giggly “getting that wick” TikToks are to be believed) raises the question: is there a future for 4DX in erotic movies? Could we next see a Fifty Shades of Grey or Basic Instinct rerelease in 4DX? Could the format have saved Emerald Fennell’s should-be horny Wuthering Heights? Wicker may have opened fifth in the North American box office, but it has already achieved the improbable: unlocking new, tantalizing and ridiculous possibilities in the realm of cinema. (Adrian Horton)
Scarlett J. ThorneCAEZIK - Showrunner PressISBN: 9781647102074 (paperback)October 29, 2026Booklist calls Lord of the Heights "a dangerously romantic journey" and says Scarlett J. Thorne takes "classic gothic romance to new heights....dark retelling with a searing love story that fans of Rebecca Yarros, Rachel Gillig, and Sarah J. Maas will devour."The moors do not forget. They hunger.James Lockwood came to Yorkshire looking for silence. Instead, a storm kills his car, the road vanishes, and Wuthering Heights opens its door as if it has been expecting him.Nelly Dean knows why he has come. Behind the stone walls waits the true story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff: a girl with fire in her blood, a boy carried home in a storm, a blood oath carved between worlds, and a love fierce enough to tear the veil apart.This is Wuthering Heights reimagined as dark gothic fae romantasy: haunted moors, ancient bargains, a sentient manor, ghosts that are never only ghosts, and a romance as dangerous as it is unforgettable.Catherine tried to seal away her magic by choosing a mortal life. Heathcliff returns as something older and darker than the orphan the world remembers. As the solstice nears, the past begins repeating, and Lockwood must decide whether this house is asking him to witness a tragedy or help break the curse.A standalone gothic fantasy romance for readers who want classic atmosphere, fae magic, morally gray obsession, and a haunted love story that chooses healing over revenge.One manor. One curse. One chance to break it.
Maas and co are clearly wonderful, almost psychic conjurors and entertainers, but they are no Charlotte Brontë or Edith Wharton, authors who gripped and entranced me in my own turbulent, disillusioned and yes, "heteropessimist" early days.Of course people should enjoy and consume romantasy if that's what fires them up. And no wonder that it does: the genre is, at heart, both crude and obvious, which chimes perfectly with the sensibilities of the social-media age. But I can't help but feel that its rise marks both the end of the heyday of English literature, and perhaps of maturity itself. (Zoe Strimpel)
Ten of us are on two long rectangular tables set side by side –a bookshop owner, a chef, a snowboarding instructor, a wildlife conservationist, a Wall Street banker turned photographer, a retired Indian Administrative Services officer, a therapist, two writers and a librarian. We are trying to understand this complicated poem, this pastiche of memoir, of descriptions of the landscape, of dreams and an obsession with Emily Brontë. [...]Running through these landscapes of grief and loneliness, is our narrator’s obsession with Emily Brontë whose collected works she carries around with her. The fifth Brontë sibling, a motherless girl who wrote poetry and but one novel – Wuthering Heights, which was published when she was 29. A year later, she was dead.“Emily Brontë was good at cursing”, our poem’s narrator tells us.Elsewhere she puzzles “How did Emily come to lose faith in humans?”What did Emily know of evil and heartbreak? How could she write poetry and a novel like Wuthering Heights, so full of savagery and passion? Our narrator wonders.Sitting at the table, we are trying to make sense of these interwoven worlds as well.“What do the ‘hanged puppies’ in the poem mean?” the snowboard instructor says.“It’s a line from Wuthering Heights,” someone replies.“But hanging puppies-why?” the chef says.“Emily Brontë was an animal lover, maybe that’s her way of showing villainy and the wildness in human nature, to have characters like Hareton and Heathcliff hanging puppies,” I say. I have wondered about this myself earlier and, naturally, have already researched it online.Someone orders a black bean burger, someone else an avocado sandwich. The food arrives, the bread is broken and passed around. The conversation flows on, drifting through Brontë’s dark moors, Carson’s dreams and her grief, and back into our own lives.I look at my watch. Somehow, three hours have passed. (Sonya Dutta Choudhury)
1 Jane Eyre by Charlotte BrontëStarting off strong with one of my all-time favorite books we have Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847). Filled with secrets and a moody, gothic atmosphere, the book follows Jane after she takes a job as a governess and falls deeply in love with her employer, the mysterious Mr. Rochester. Tormented by her past, her current situation, and the dark secrets coming to light in this haunting manor, Jane is forced to face her reality and learn how to grow, making this novel a classic coming-of-age story. Considered one of the first feminist novels (as I further argued on in my AP Lit exam), Jane Eyre is a book about discovery, both of the self as of what lies beneath of what’s in front of your eyes. Full of substance, beautiful language, and one of the greatest twists in literature, Jane Eyre is just one of those books that haunts you long after finishing it and can enhance the tone of these months to come. (Renee Caballero)
There is no guarantee that a great book will also become a great film, as it’s actually seldom that they are equivalent in quality. There has certainly been no shortage of amazing classics of literature, the likes of which everyone had to read in high school, that were absolutely ruined when they were adapted to the screen. This year’s Wuthering Heights is only the most recent example, as Emerald Fennell only adapted half of the novel and seemed to entirely miss the point of what Emily Brontë was trying to say. (Liam Gaughan)
Adapted by Sally Cookson, Mike Ayers, and The Original CompanyDirected by Lily DybleNovember 3-7Stage 1, Northern Stage, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RH, UKA Mercury Theatre Colchester, Rose Theatre Kingston and Storyhouse Chester production in association with Northern Stage and supported by a grant from The Royal Theatrical Support Trust“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.”One woman’s fight for a life that is worthy of her courage, and a love that is worthy of her heart.Orphaned as a young girl, the passionate and sensitive Jane longs to escape the clutches of her cruel aunt.Freedom beckons when she is offered the job of a governess in the house of the brooding and secretive Mr Rochester.As intrigue turns to attraction, Jane finds herself drawn in by Rochester’s mercurial charm. But when the truth finally comes out, she will be forced to choose between the man she wants, and the woman she wants to be.Nearly two centuries on, Charlotte Brontë’s groundbreaking story is as thrilling and relevant as ever in this bold production directed by 2025 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award-winner Lily Dyble, based on Sally Cookson, Mike Akers and the original company’s trailblazing adaptation.Audio described and British Sign Language interpreted: Thu 5 Nov, 6pmInterpreted by Caroline RyanCaptioned: Sat 7 Nov, 2.30pm
A lifelong Brontë reader, I received the book eagerly, but did not take its editor’s words literally. Having read it, I realize she meant them that way. There are biographers desperate to know a life from the outside in and the inside out, and there are biographers aware that their subject is fundamentally unknowable. Lutz is the latter, and she works instead to produce a social and domestic history of those closest to Emily, a natural history of the West Yorkshire moors Brontë immortalized in Wuthering Heights, and a material history of Emily’s writing practice which, in the hands of Lutz’s meditative attention, approaches the mystical. “Expertise,” dry and academic, is the wrong word to characterize Lutz’s understanding of the Brontës. Victorianists tend to work exclusively with the established texts of their subjects, but Lutz spent several years immersed in Emily Brontë’s hand-written manuscripts (detailed photographs of these are included in the book) and inhabiting Brontë’s hometown of Haworth, West Yorkshire, and Brussels, where she studied alongside her older sister Charlotte at the Pensionnat Héger. Lutz pored over the local weather reports of Emily’s lifetime and learned the flora and fauna of the moors so integral to Brontë’s life and work (Emily could identify local birds by their song and kept a collection of their feathers she found on her daily walks). In This Dark Night, Lutz’s deep knowledge of Emily Brontë transcends biography and—appropriate for her subject, who wrote one of the most famous ghost stories in Western literature—approaches a haunting. (Emily Van Duyne)
Jane Eyre, the classic novel by acclaimed author Charlotte Brontë, has been beautifully reimagined by director Lily Dyble, as it tours across England, where it made its second stop at the Rose Theatre in Kingston, from 13th - 24th October 2026.What captured the imagination of its spellbound audience, was the accuracy to the timeless storyline, which is what makes it one of the most read novels of our age, whilst also portraying Jane in an incredibly genuine and down to earth way, which could perhaps be argued is missed by the countless movie adaptations of the book.When asked about her thoughts on the play, actress Aamira Challenger, who played both Grace Poole and Diana in this production, commented, "There are so many angles that a director could choose to explore and, in our production, director Lily Dyble wanted to highlight Jane’s capacity for emotion and self-determination. Jane has big feelings, strong will, and the tenacity to challenge the society she is within".Moreover, the staging and special effects utilised in the play, while at first appearing quite modern for such a classic, allow for thought-provoking ideas on dynamics between various characters, as well as showcasing Jane's internal struggle throughout the play. (Ava Sims)
Nella scrittura di Brontë, il paesaggio non accompagna i personaggi: li determina. Il vento, l’isolamento e la natura ostile costituiscono un’estensione delle loro contraddizioni. Evocare la brughiera non basta; occorrerebbe farne una presenza drammatica. Altrimenti lo Yorkshire diventa una cartolina piuttosto malinconica, con il vantaggio di non richiedere neppure un viaggio. Il limite maggiore dell’operazione rimane tuttavia l’incapacità di distinguere la passione dalla sua rappresentazione esteriore. Il tragico nasce dalla tensione fra ciò che viene espresso e ciò che resta impronunciabile. Quando ogni sentimento pretende immediatamente il proprio culmine, la progressione drammatica si annulla. Persino Wagner, che aveva una certa familiarità con gli amori impossibili, sapeva alternare il fortissimo al silenzio. Qui l’intensità rischia di diventare una condizione permanente, con il prevedibile risultato di non impressionare più nessuno. Cime tempestose richiederebbe una regia capace di interrogare l’ambiguità morale dei protagonisti, anziché illustrarne incessantemente le sofferenze. Brontë non aveva scritto un manuale di educazione sentimentale, ma un romanzo nel quale l’amore diventa una forma di sopraffazione. La differenza è sostanziale. Quando il tormento si trasforma in maniera e la crudeltà in convenzione melodrammatica, anche la più feroce delle passioni perde la propria capacità di inquietare. Heathcliff, in fondo, non ha bisogno di gridare per essere terribile. Gli basta esistere. Il resto è meteorologia. (Davide Oliviero) (Translation)
With its dramatic landscapes and links to the Brontë sisters, Haworth has long been a popular destination for tourists.But recently, the West Yorkshire village has been busier than ever, according to some residents and business owners, and is now attracting a new type of visitor - one brought in by how picturesque the place looks on social media, particularly during autumn.A quick search on platforms like TikTok or Instagram shows a whole host of content promoting Haworth as a must-visit this October.Posts also highlight the queues that can form outside shops, especially during the weekend. (...)Karen Roberts has worked at The Cabinet of Curiosities for nearly 20 years and says the shop has been especially busy this year."It suddenly started about six weeks ago to the point where we've had queues outside every weekend waiting to come in," she says."This week, with it being half-term, we've literally had people outside every day."An old-fashioned shop front with large windows showing a Halloween display, with pumpkins and autumn leaves. A queue of people can be seen standing outside the door.Although the business previously had a social media presence, she thinks the reason it "all blew up like this" is due to the sheer amount of people posting independently about the shop, and the village, on their own accounts."We've always let people film, we've never had a problem with that, but definitely people are asking me now, can they come in and film?," she explains."Then they share it, and every day you turn on Facebook and you go, 'oh my God, there is more'."Many customers know about the connection to the Brontë family, and the parsonage where they lived is now a museum.Emerald Fennell's 2026 adaption of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, also sparked an interest in Brontë country. (...)Enjoying a day off work, Ella and Brian Thomas travelled from Greater Manchester to visit Haworth, inspired by a friend's Instagram post."With Wuthering Heights coming out, I think a lot of people have been seeing it on TikTok and making videos, so it was me who suggested to come here," Ella says.The couple wanted to find somewhere "nice and autumnal" for a walk, and say they've previously visited York and Edinburgh for a "similar vibe"."I knew it was the home of the Brontës, but I didn't know much more of the history than that," Brian explains. (Fiona Callow)
Haworth has been hailed as one of Britain's prettiest villages, drawing visitors with 70 independent shops, the Brontë Parsonage Museum and stunning autumn countryside walks to the Brontë Waterfall. (...)Haworth is inextricably linked with literary heritage, having been home to the Brontë sisters, whose celebrated works including Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights have left an indelible mark on English literature. The village is currently adorned in its autumnal finery, though visitors keen to soak up its seasonal splendour are fast running out of time. (Jamie Barlow and Alycia McNamara)
Wandering through the Birthplace, one can imagine the young Brontës scurrying around, conjuring up stories. Their move to Haworth, then a poverty-stricken town on the edge of the moors, helped to inspire some of the greatest works in literature – but also brought huge tragedy as death and disease destroyed the family. So it’s no wonder their father, Patrick, always associated Thornton with joy.The recent paranormal occurrences may be a figment of people’s overactive imaginations – a trait abundant in the magnificent Brontë brains. But perhaps the property’s ambitious restoration has inadvertently disturbed the spirits of the country’s most famous literary dynasty, desperate to return to the place where they were happiest and where the spark of genius was first lit. (Lisa Byrne)
Well, if you know us for some time, you probably know what we think about all this hogwash. It makes for some nice nonsense laughs, but the moment people take it too seriously, we don't play the game. Sorry. No.
Indeed, Janusz Majewski’s 1970 classic Lokis is widely credited as Poland’s first color horror film and a cornerstone of Polish genre cinema after World War II. (...)In a Jane Eyre-esque scenario, the Count’s mother (Zofia Mrozowska) has been locked away for decades, having suffered a mental breakdown after being mauled by a bear on her wedding night. (Maria Kamińska)
La nueva Cumbres borrascosas ha transformado la novela de Emily Brontë en una fantasía gótica-pop de vestuario deliberadamente anacrónico, erotismo exacerbado y banda sonora de Charli xcx. Ya no se trata únicamente de encontrar nuevas lecturas de los clásicos, sino de remodelarlos abiertamente según los códigos estéticos y emocionales del presente. (Carlos Jonic) (Translation)
En prêtant sa voix à Antoinette, enfermée et présentée pour folle dans "Jane Eyre" de Charlotte Brontë, Lilia Hassaine signe avec "JE" un roman subtil, sombre et contemporain. (...)Quelle est la genèse de "JE" ?C'est suite à une situation vécue que j'ai repensé à ce personnage féminin et que j'ai relu le livre parce que je me suis demandé pourquoi elle se rappelait à mon bon souvenir. Je me suis rendu compte des correspondances et des liens qui m'attachaient à elle. (...)Et pour faire du personnage d'Antoinette la porte d'entrée pour évoquer ces drames dont sont toujours victimes les femmes et de montrer que, finalement aujourd'hui, rien n'a vraiment changé ?Effectivement, ça existe encore aujourd'hui. Il y a des choses qui ont évolué, mais encore une fois, dans la mécanique, dans ce système d'horlogerie qui permet de mettre une femme sous cloche, il y a des mécanismes communs. Comment s'y prend-on pour isoler une femme ? Je voulais vraiment comprendre comment on s'y prenait de manière très concrète.Vous avez eu l'occasion de répéter à plusieurs reprises que vous détestiez les appellations "pervers narcissique" et "emprise" pour décrire ces mécanismes. Pourquoi ?Parce que la littérature n'a rien à faire avec ces mots et ces concepts. On n'a pas besoin de mettre une étiquette. En littérature, je trouve qu'ils n'ont pas nécessairement leur place. Cet homme, Rochester, c'est un manipulateur, un homme dangereux et un minable. C'est pour cela que la littérature est utile. Elle universalise. Quand on se rend compte à quel point c'est banal, on se rend compte aussi à quel point c'est grave, paradoxalement. Ce n'est pas parce que ça ne touche qu'une personne que c'est plus grave. C'est précisément parce que ça se reproduit, parce qu'il y a tout un système qui rend ça possible, que c'est très grave. (Philippe Manche) (Translation)
Stærkt understøttet er balletten af dens musikalske underlag i form af en mesterlig og respektfuld behandling af Mendelssohn-søskendeparret Fanny og Felix’ klaverkompositioner og strygekvartetter, der yderligere perspektiveres af Schubert-værker for samme besætninger. Ikke blot er disse musikalske kilder vævet tæt sammen af komponisten Philip Feeney med stemningsfulde og kontrastfyldte effekter, men samtidig sætter det hele samtiden, hvori dramaet udfolder sig, ind i et sitrende musikalsk lydrum, som løfter både sindet og opmærksomheden.Der er således mange gode takter, musikalsk såvel som koreografisk, i denne ballet. Alligevel reduceres indtrykket noget af den lidt for store trinmæssige monotoni i bevægelsessproget, som med sit forcerede ekspressionistiske udtrykstempo i begge timelange akter fortegner de stærke underliggende følelser. Sikker dans og godt scenisk håndværk er der dog til stede fra først til sidst i dette voldsomme sjælsdrama. (Knud Arne Jürgensen) (Translation)
The first version came from the girl group Pandora’s Box, assembled by Steinman, and was followed by Dion’s version, with Meat Loaf releasing the final recorded version in 2006 for Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose. For its story, Steinman parsed Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights, imagining the characters in an alternate universe dominated by morbid obsession.“Heathcliff digging up Cathy’s corpse and dancing with it in the cold moonlight,” as he described. Dion’s version is a modified rendition of Pandora’s Box’s recording, and leaves the presence of Roy Bittan’s grand piano; elevated with her signature, soaring vocals and overarching theatrics, as Steinman’s productions typically captured, ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’ hears her transform the song into a proper rock opera. (Paulina Subia)
Spine-tinglingly eerie, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca (1938) is a masterpiece of slow-burn storytelling, and the scariest non-horror novel.çHeavily inspired by Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (itself pretty spooky at times), Rebecca is a mystery and Gothic romance wrapped up in one, with first-person narration – by a never-named narrator, no less – which expertly draws readers into its finely drawn world of creaky mansions, forgotten boathouses, and whispers in the night. (Steven Lantier)
Drawing inspiration from lovelorn Wuthering Heights character Catherine Earnshaw, Helen, 36, commanded attention in a cleave-enhancing corset and red skirt as she let her hair down at Soho venue The Box. (Jason Chester)
Finally, The Eyre Guide reviews Marian Yee's 4 Janes, "a fascinating read".
Unless explicitly said
